Office versus ambulatory recordings of blood pressure (OvA): a European multicenter study. The Steering Committee.

The long-term prognostic value of ambulatory blood pressure recordings in essential hypertension is poorly documented. A European Multicenter study has been set up to evaluate office versus ambulatory (OvA) recordings during a follow-up period of 5 years in a minimum of 2000 patients. The end-point of the study is the question of whether ambulatory blood pressure measurements are better correlated with patient morbidity and mortality than office recordings. In a specific substudy, short-term evolution (6 months) of left ventricular hypertrophy will be followed in untreated hypertensives with randomly allocated treatment. A number of readaptations of the primary protocol are discussed.